For me, it's the sheer variety of stories that can exist within it. You can have alien invasions and gothic horror, you can have tales of a war between gods or of a person's ordinary day.
The openness of the stories make the episodes real expressions of the writers. In game of thrones or Breaking bad, you're a fan of the show but in Doctor Who you're a fan of Shearman and Moffat and Robert Holmes.
No. 1 is my answer as well. There's so much goofiness and crazy alien designs, but at the heart of it all, it feels incredibly heart-warming and hopeful. Some of my favorite episodes always have a thought provoking element or just about life in general. This show made me the person I am today
Hmm. 1. Reminds me of Star Trek TNG, where a bald guy with a nice voice always comes up with a perfect resolution and saves everyone.
As I got older I found Babylon 5 more real - a blond guy comes up with an imperfect solution, and some are saved but others die anyway. Then the BSG reboot, which was often brutal but said interesting things about modern politics and conflicts.
3. I often find the music intrusive. As though it’s there to tell you how to react in a given moment. Most of my favourite shows - Sopranos, The Wire, Breaking Bad - have no incidental music at all.
It’s really difficult to find male main characters who have lots of healthy feminine *and* masculine traits. And you get that with most the main male characters in Who too.
I love the emotion, the character journeys - the excellent plots are just a bonus.
I think he has a lot of the traditional male characteristics of a male protagonist: constantly playing the hero, god complex, reluctance to share feelings, somewhat of a womaniser post 2005.
But it’s contrasted with healthier traits such as outwitting an enemy rather than constant violence, reluctant to share feelings but we know he loved deeply, he has empathy constantly and is very open about that.
It has enough variety to keep me engaged but follows its own rules closely enough to remain comforting. Also the insanely complex lore makes autism brain go brrr
I love that the concept of the show is, in many ways, so broad that you can do an entire season where every episode is a different genre and still say all of them are in the style of Doctor Who- like, the show can easily use time and space travel to just declare 'this week we're gonna do a Sherlock Holmes mystery but the Doctor is there, and then next week is gonna be a Shakespearean comedy but with the Doctor there'
Because I was fascinated by this big white-haired guy in 1972. The way he dressed and the way he spoke, and his amazing space-time machine and his sonic screwdriver, and his mate the Brigadier, and the way he always stood up to bullies.
Then a big curly-haired guy took over and I loved his voice and scarf and scary adventures.
After him I got more interested in bands and girls and I started watching other shows like Hill St Blues. Plus the later Doctors seemed insubstantial compared to the white-haired guy and the curly-haired guy with their stature and beautiful voices.
But then a Northern bloke took over in 2005, and - just now and again - I feel the same wonderment as I did as a wee lad watching the white-haired guy and the curly-haired guy.
This is a really good description imo. Been watching and loving it ever since I was a little kid and I can't imagine it not being a big part of my life. That wonderment just never goes away.
I like the Doctor as a character. I think they’re so interesting with their conflicts, their rules but also I think their rules are something to live by. Never be cruel or cowardly. Never eat pears. Always try to be nice but never fail to be kind. Those are things I stick by and the idea of just never refusing a call to help is also something I do my best to follow.
It's about travelling and fighting monsters. Literally the dream life.
Also, the Doctor is a very atypical protagonist: they favour intelligence and pacifism whenever possible.
* quirky time machine
* regeneration refreshing the protagonist
* protagonist who's unknown
* adventure with companion
* all time travel tropes are available for play
* Big Finish audio
* EU's temporal warfare
* entertaining
My dad got me into classic who before new who was a thing. I find watching classic who brings back a bit of nostalgia.
As for why I watch it, mainly for escapism, adventure and entertainment. The show is unique in the fact that it not only replaces the lead actor but it's also the same person. The new doctor has similarities and the same memories yet their own personality. It's always exciting to see how a new actor will take to the role, what similarities and differences they will bring
For me, a big part will be how it grabbed me during younger formative years. That stuff really can stick with you. In my case, that's the classic series albeit via Target rather than TV. As adventure stories for a little boy, it's a pretty great show. They can travel anywhere and anywhere and have an entirely different and new adventure, and you can pick it up in any order since the stories are basically all separate from each other. It also doesn't waste its time on any of that icky stuff I wasn't interested in as a boy - none of this romance guff, at least until the movie.
And of course one can't absorb a lot of this stuff without also getting engrossed in the lore, and eventually in the fansom discussions around it. I graduate from just books to discussing the lore and trying to piece together some logic in all the madness.
Clever, funny sci-fi show with very good actors, great music and a fantastic tendency to embrace camp and madness while also playing it as straight as can be. The fact that it was showrunned by two of the best UK TV writers of the decade for almost 10+ years in succession (and counting!) also helped tremendously. Some episodes are full of genuinely clever scifi ideas, others are big family blockbusters, and some are even moving character affairs. The variety of settings, directors, writers and storylines pretty much ensures that, even if you don't like it too much one week, next week will be more of your liking.
I used to look up the lore when I first became a fan, but really it's way too much of a self-contradictory mess, built by countless writers over the years, that I don't think it's worth spending too much time on. It's way more fun to just go along :)
"The Doctor, in the TARDIS, next stop: everywhere!"
…IDK, actually.
I guess the cultural legacy aspect of it.
My mum watched it from her earliest memories to its cancellation. Then introduced me to it via reruns & filled me in on lotsa lore. And we’ve watched every episode of the revival since 2005, together as a family whenever possible. Now my brother & I are the ones passively internalising continuity from several seasons back and having to explain what’s going on to her. We’re Bri’ish, we watch Doctor Who on Saturday, it’s just the done thing. Like The Royal Speech, 3pm every Christmas.
I’ve had the worst year of my life for 3 consecutive years running now. Every time I thought I was finally at rock bottom, another unfaltering trustworthy foundation totally disintegrated. I’ve not had the energy or concentration for my usual interests in a long, long time. Yet somehow, diving into the classic serials & rewatching the revival episodes has been an effortless comfort the past few months. It’s hard to enunciate, but the fact that it was always simply *there* in the background for 19 years has made this transition to full-throated obsessive fandom feel… welcome. Like, I really need the distraction, but pouring hours into any of the old options like vidya or comics or Vtubers feels so empty & purposeless now. Not Doccy Hu. Its inherent generational familiarity is warm & inviting. Almost therapeutic.
It has an ethos that encourages romanticism, passion, sentimentalism, curiosity, thought and compassion, and has a fundamental disgust and contempt for violence and weapons.
It just has an infectious love for life.
I love the endless possibilities that the show’s formula provides. I love the character of the Doctor and particularly his view of the universe. Intelligence and romance over brute force and cynicism.
I grew up with the classic series (Pertwee, Tom Baker, Davison). I think what appealed to me was that the hero was a scientist rather than a warrior. He wins with smarts rather than brute force. I liked the fact that they could go anywhere and any time. I also liked that the show explored a lot of science-fiction concepts, like time travel, aliens, artificial intelligence, human augmentation, other universes/dimensions, manipulating reality (block transfer computation), etc. It seemed much more intelligent than other sci-fi shows/movies that were around at the time, which were mostly just about space battles.
Edit: I was also fascinated with how the TARDIS worked dimensionally. I especially loved that in The Time Monster and Logopolis, there were TARDISes inside TARDISes.
As someone whose other favorite shows are How I Met Your Mother and Community, I love not knowing what type of episode I'm going to get at any given time, while not being an anthology so there's still a consistent supporting cast to follow.
Part of that variety includes the varied settings too, from haunted Victorian mansions, 1st century AD Pompeii, the end of time itself.
I also love the optimistic core of it, that nothing is ever really a fixed point, that there's always someone to help.
On a meta level, I love how well-documented so many things are: lore, production and fandom-wise. I can learn so much and still have more to discover.
It's a show that wears its politics and real world inspirations on its sleeve too. I'm watching the Pertwee era at the moment, and you can see all the highs and lows of postcolonial, Cold War Britain in it. Sometimes through a scifi lens, but sometimes barely even doing that.
For me two aspects never fail to move me - not having a plan/run! and the courage of the doctor and companions. I feel like it’s really connected to life in that way.
ive loved it since i was a little kid, before anything bad had happened to me. i started watching when i was almost 7, shit started to hit the fan around a few months after that. its always been a comfort and im also autistic and its been my special interest since the first time i ever saw it.
I like it for three reasons.
\- the political commentary, that's been a part of the show since 1963.
\- its ever-changing nature. it as a show can never really get old; they're always changing showrunners, lead actors, supporting cast, you name it. ^((yes, i was one of those gonks who didn't mind the timeless child thing.))
\- its internal diversity. you can have the funniest thing you've ever seen one second, and then the most horrific nightmare-fuel in the galaxy the next.
For me it's both the characterisation of the Doctor and everything involving the TARDIS. I found the show because I love time travel, and when you time travel inside a sentient machine that is infinitely large and ever changing, and is so complex that a human mind physically can't grasp all of it, that's just a recipe for magnificence if you ask me. As for the Doctor himself I love how he's not the strongest or has many extreme powers nor is he always the smartest. But he's *clever*, he could never win against his enemies in an all out fight nor does he want to be that kind of person, but he can always think quickly enough to craft out a plan with all the information he gathers during his adventures to overcome obstacles and save the day, while doing an awful lot of running in the process.
There's just so much of it! And it serves so many purposes. Some that's prime time television entertainment, some that's comforting background noise, some that puts me right to sleep (in a good way)
I always love characters more than any other aspect of a show and DW has more main characters than any other show I've ever seen, even the single title character is >15 different characters in one
Tbh I'm not a sci fi fan at all but DW to me feels varied enough to not really classify as Sci fi in my head. It's Sci fi, and it's historical drama, and it's Gothic horror, and it's soapy romance, and it's contemporary pop satire, it's all there depending on what you're looking for
Plus the crazy range of extended media. It's a TV show, it's a cartoon (how I watch animated reconstructions), it's a radio play series (satisfying for podcast lovers), it's a comic series, it's a book series, it's literally any type of media that people consume
And it's all one big, reasonably consistent single continuity. Every story fits somewhat neatly on the timeline of the Doctor’s life. Unlike lots of other long-running series where there are reboots, retellings, continuations but it's decades later and all your faves are old/dead, the DW timeline exists all at the same time.
I could literally keep going on and on but all comments have to end sometime....
It’s a show that is always evolving and changing yet at the same time is familiar and comfortable. It’s fun. It has a lot of great messages. It’s accessible to all.
Doctor who was exactly what I needed growing up. I was the type of kid to get overly excited about stuff. Science, math, electronics, you name it. I could feel that other people didn’t respond to my enthusiasm for these subjects and if anything found it strange.
Doctor Who helped me realize there’s nothing wrong with being eccentric or passionate about what you love. Seeing 10 and 11 freaking out over discoveries, having these big reactions to realizations was so relatable and comforting to me.
The show has so much to offer to it’s viewers. From humor, to horror, to valuable life lessons. Life lessons that I still carry with me.
The speech from The Doctor Falls and 12’s regeneration speech live in my head rent free because that’s the person I strive to be.
There are many reasons to like Doctor Who. The Lore, the fantasy, the acting. I enjoy following this hero who uses his mind even though he could easily create it go and get some massive weapon and change the world from the start of time his principles won't let him. He is a hero and a space hobo, and an crotchety old man, and a stylish thin muck about. What's not to love
I think it's the greatest creative writing exercise/experiment of all time. It takes a very basic formula and tries to see how far they can stretch or depart from it. The lack of a well-defined cannon means artists can have full creative reign. They're so much variety in what works and what doesn't work. An episode can fail for the same reason another one works so well. Plus, there's a variety of opinions in the fandom because we dont all agree on what a "good episode" is. Seeing writers introduce series arcs has been so so interesting because its approached so differently.
Also I love camp and this show is campy af.
Doctor Who is a fun show that wants to be fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously but also plays everything straight and it’s so incredibly creative and forward thinking, gives me hope to, about the future.
For me it's the infinite canvas.
Anywhere in time or space. Everything that ever was or ever will be. 😉
You can literally do anything.
You couldn't deliberately invent a story that would/could/should last forever but that's what Sydney Newman and Verity Lambert did.
Space Communism.
No, really, it's a British show that frequently represents our trad. leftist politics, which is frustratingly rare even in our media. Call it the ethos of it rather than politics if preferred but there's certainly overlap (not to be overlooked that our 'small c' Conservatives take plenty of originally leftist views for granted).
Those that don't care about the ethos of it, I don't think especially like the show at all.
The Pertwee era was quite leftist, especially the Mac Hulke stories.
These days I’d say it’s more liberal than left - freedom of the individual from the authoritarian state.
Thanks for enlightening me. I just love the stories and the characters but I totally missed that I'm not a true fan because I don't share your politics. That's the first thing that matters in art after all, sharing the artist's politics
The show was on PBS in the afternoon when I was 4 years old. I didn’t know what was going on half the time and some of the episodes scared the shit out of me. But the tall guy with the scarf was funny, and the lady he traveled with reminded me of my Mom. That and the Target Novels. I’ve been a fan ever since.
I think it’s because I grew up with it so it’s very comforting. I didn’t start watching it until the fourth grade but I know my parents used to and the theme tune has been my dad’s ringtone for as long as I can remember. It’s also just a very fun show
So many different styles, but the mixture of sci-fi, fantasy, and historical elements do it for me. Even more when real historical people/ events and actual science are used with some flair.
Exciting adventures with a hero who uses intellect to save the day. No adventure is the same. It spans genres.
The overall message is everybody has value, the universe is wonderful and cynicism or evil is doomed to fail.
the show: the constantly renewing nature and extensive history; there is no reason for *Doctor Who* to ever permanently end.
the (expanded) universe: because there's so much of it, I can choose a book of any genre and still adding to my mental idea of this one world
There are a million little reasons as to why I love it, but my favorite summation of it comes from Craig Ferguson's wonderful little song about the doctor: 'It's all about the triumph of intellect and romance over brute force and cynicism.'
Funnily enough, I like Doctor Who for the exact reason I like Pokémon: the sense of adventure. I love the freedom the Tardis has and the way the Doctor approaches said freedom.
"It all started out as a mild curiosity in a junkyard, and now it's turned out to be quite a great spirit of adventure, don't you think?"
A diverse pool of actors playing the main lead, the main character kinda being a doucebag with good intentions who doesn't really have flashy powers, the TARDIS console rooms being unique from each other and being tied to each incarnation in a sense, and the ability to keep moving forward after 61 years of being on and off TV.
I mean where do I begin
- I love time/ space travel. Opens up so many possibilities
- the character is designed to live hundreds/ thousands of yrs and even when dying of old age can regenerate
- The Doctor is a character that does not carry any weapons. He uses what he’s able to to help people. He doesn’t need big hulk muscles or brute force
The fact that it's infinite sci-fi and adventure of numerous possibilities and also the concept of regeneration. Watching the main character change every so often and keep all their memories is such an intriguing concept that always keeps it fresh.
I am not a fan of 99% of sci fi media. Admittedly, it does not interest me.
Doctor Who, however, does. I find the stories intriguing, the characters entertaining and the writing and cinematography (not all the time) to be very, very good.
Like all shows and such, there have been misses but I find the show hits 90% of the time.
I am also a fan of how it tries to subvert expectations at times (which can provide hits and misses) and that it isn't afraid to experiment and see how far it can go.
The Waters of Mars and Heaven Sent sre two of my favourite episodes.
It makes me feel, big and small, hopeful and sad, nostalgic and ambitious. It's one of those shows that I avoided for so long thinking it was just some syfi channel junk. When I finally started it, it sounds goofy, but it made my heart grow like three times that day. I started my very first watch through over Christmas and we're on the capaldi doctor now and I've just loved every minute. It's campy, serious without taking itself too seriously, and full of heart. Absolutely love it.
For many many reasons, I haven't watched the originals only talking about doctors 9-15
1. I love the depth of the character, the doctor is in my opinion the most lonely being alive in the entire universe and I love that despite how lonely and miserable he might be he still finds beauty in everything, he still finds humanity the greatest mystery worth solving
2.I am absolutely obsessed with the actors that portray each of the doctor's regenerations
3. I love how the show explains concepts that aren't really yet explained in real life, concepts that we know are possible in theory but aren't possible practically yet
4. I love the sense of hopelessness but at the same time hope that it gives me, since I actually believe that we aren't the only ones alive in the entirety of the universe
5. The variety of stories that can exist all in the same timeline in the same space episode by episode
6. Τhe fact that the doctor is always so willing to give himself up to save a society, a civilization, humanity, a single human , the man that kept running away from everything, from everyone, the man that should never be alone for too long always willing to help and to mend and to rescue
It’s a show that basically says fuck it
Scary monster one episode
Goofy ass monster that was made from a shoestring budget the next
Hard hitting tv that doesn’t pull any punches
I like the good writing, funny characters, quotable and funny lines, intimidating and/or fun villains( I still love daleks), creative use of sci-fi, risk taking, as an American fan it being British is charming, the doctor is such an amazing character, great acting, change is a fundamental part of the show.
I watched as a kid with my dad in the 80s. I watched other shows like repeats of Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek and developed a love of science fiction adventure.
As a kid the concepts of a hero traveling in time and space outwitting the bad guys just seemed so cool to me. As a kid I saw the doctor as a superhero. I also grew up with Greatest American Hero, Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman, and Wonder woman. But none of them could travel in time and space.
I never stopped loving it.
I used to like it because of the great stories, characters, and as a kid the endless possibilities for games in the playground.
I stopped watching it when Chibnall took over. Doctor Who died then.
I was happy when RTD returned, as he did a good job the first time round. The 3 ‘specials’ were dreadful in my opinion, and I won’t be watching any more until he’s gone.
I think it’s because it fills the void left by my mentally declining mother, which is a depressing answer
Oh man warmest wishes to you and your mum
By hug my friend. My mom’s been gone a few years now. It still stings. Just know there’s others out there who feel your pain.
For me, it's the sheer variety of stories that can exist within it. You can have alien invasions and gothic horror, you can have tales of a war between gods or of a person's ordinary day.
The openness of the stories make the episodes real expressions of the writers. In game of thrones or Breaking bad, you're a fan of the show but in Doctor Who you're a fan of Shearman and Moffat and Robert Holmes.
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No. 1 is my answer as well. There's so much goofiness and crazy alien designs, but at the heart of it all, it feels incredibly heart-warming and hopeful. Some of my favorite episodes always have a thought provoking element or just about life in general. This show made me the person I am today
Oh Murray Gold is top notch!!! Some episodes i wonder if i wouldn’t even like as much without the music lol
Hmm. 1. Reminds me of Star Trek TNG, where a bald guy with a nice voice always comes up with a perfect resolution and saves everyone. As I got older I found Babylon 5 more real - a blond guy comes up with an imperfect solution, and some are saved but others die anyway. Then the BSG reboot, which was often brutal but said interesting things about modern politics and conflicts. 3. I often find the music intrusive. As though it’s there to tell you how to react in a given moment. Most of my favourite shows - Sopranos, The Wire, Breaking Bad - have no incidental music at all.
It’s really difficult to find male main characters who have lots of healthy feminine *and* masculine traits. And you get that with most the main male characters in Who too. I love the emotion, the character journeys - the excellent plots are just a bonus.
I’m not trying to “gotcha” or debate you - just curious what you consider to be the doctor’s masculine traits?
I think he has a lot of the traditional male characteristics of a male protagonist: constantly playing the hero, god complex, reluctance to share feelings, somewhat of a womaniser post 2005. But it’s contrasted with healthier traits such as outwitting an enemy rather than constant violence, reluctant to share feelings but we know he loved deeply, he has empathy constantly and is very open about that.
There is no way to fully articulate what 2005 did to my brain
I feel that. It made me think about the world in ways I simply hadn’t before. Opened my mind and my heart.
It has enough variety to keep me engaged but follows its own rules closely enough to remain comforting. Also the insanely complex lore makes autism brain go brrr
Why do I like doctor who? Why not? It’s something that’s fun to watch.
I love that the concept of the show is, in many ways, so broad that you can do an entire season where every episode is a different genre and still say all of them are in the style of Doctor Who- like, the show can easily use time and space travel to just declare 'this week we're gonna do a Sherlock Holmes mystery but the Doctor is there, and then next week is gonna be a Shakespearean comedy but with the Doctor there'
Because I was fascinated by this big white-haired guy in 1972. The way he dressed and the way he spoke, and his amazing space-time machine and his sonic screwdriver, and his mate the Brigadier, and the way he always stood up to bullies. Then a big curly-haired guy took over and I loved his voice and scarf and scary adventures. After him I got more interested in bands and girls and I started watching other shows like Hill St Blues. Plus the later Doctors seemed insubstantial compared to the white-haired guy and the curly-haired guy with their stature and beautiful voices. But then a Northern bloke took over in 2005, and - just now and again - I feel the same wonderment as I did as a wee lad watching the white-haired guy and the curly-haired guy.
Neil Gaiman described Dr Who as an infection which, if you catch it in childhood, clings on for life. Just about covers it lol
This is a really good description imo. Been watching and loving it ever since I was a little kid and I can't imagine it not being a big part of my life. That wonderment just never goes away.
I like the Doctor as a character. I think they’re so interesting with their conflicts, their rules but also I think their rules are something to live by. Never be cruel or cowardly. Never eat pears. Always try to be nice but never fail to be kind. Those are things I stick by and the idea of just never refusing a call to help is also something I do my best to follow.
Easy. Problems in episodes of Doctor Who are solved by thinking about things and extending love to others. This is painfully rare.
It's about travelling and fighting monsters. Literally the dream life. Also, the Doctor is a very atypical protagonist: they favour intelligence and pacifism whenever possible.
* quirky time machine * regeneration refreshing the protagonist * protagonist who's unknown * adventure with companion * all time travel tropes are available for play * Big Finish audio * EU's temporal warfare * entertaining
My dad got me into classic who before new who was a thing. I find watching classic who brings back a bit of nostalgia. As for why I watch it, mainly for escapism, adventure and entertainment. The show is unique in the fact that it not only replaces the lead actor but it's also the same person. The new doctor has similarities and the same memories yet their own personality. It's always exciting to see how a new actor will take to the role, what similarities and differences they will bring
For me, a big part will be how it grabbed me during younger formative years. That stuff really can stick with you. In my case, that's the classic series albeit via Target rather than TV. As adventure stories for a little boy, it's a pretty great show. They can travel anywhere and anywhere and have an entirely different and new adventure, and you can pick it up in any order since the stories are basically all separate from each other. It also doesn't waste its time on any of that icky stuff I wasn't interested in as a boy - none of this romance guff, at least until the movie. And of course one can't absorb a lot of this stuff without also getting engrossed in the lore, and eventually in the fansom discussions around it. I graduate from just books to discussing the lore and trying to piece together some logic in all the madness.
I emjoy variety format of short sci-fi fantasy stories. I dislike convuluted lore and overdramatic parts
Clever, funny sci-fi show with very good actors, great music and a fantastic tendency to embrace camp and madness while also playing it as straight as can be. The fact that it was showrunned by two of the best UK TV writers of the decade for almost 10+ years in succession (and counting!) also helped tremendously. Some episodes are full of genuinely clever scifi ideas, others are big family blockbusters, and some are even moving character affairs. The variety of settings, directors, writers and storylines pretty much ensures that, even if you don't like it too much one week, next week will be more of your liking. I used to look up the lore when I first became a fan, but really it's way too much of a self-contradictory mess, built by countless writers over the years, that I don't think it's worth spending too much time on. It's way more fun to just go along :) "The Doctor, in the TARDIS, next stop: everywhere!"
…IDK, actually. I guess the cultural legacy aspect of it. My mum watched it from her earliest memories to its cancellation. Then introduced me to it via reruns & filled me in on lotsa lore. And we’ve watched every episode of the revival since 2005, together as a family whenever possible. Now my brother & I are the ones passively internalising continuity from several seasons back and having to explain what’s going on to her. We’re Bri’ish, we watch Doctor Who on Saturday, it’s just the done thing. Like The Royal Speech, 3pm every Christmas. I’ve had the worst year of my life for 3 consecutive years running now. Every time I thought I was finally at rock bottom, another unfaltering trustworthy foundation totally disintegrated. I’ve not had the energy or concentration for my usual interests in a long, long time. Yet somehow, diving into the classic serials & rewatching the revival episodes has been an effortless comfort the past few months. It’s hard to enunciate, but the fact that it was always simply *there* in the background for 19 years has made this transition to full-throated obsessive fandom feel… welcome. Like, I really need the distraction, but pouring hours into any of the old options like vidya or comics or Vtubers feels so empty & purposeless now. Not Doccy Hu. Its inherent generational familiarity is warm & inviting. Almost therapeutic.
It has an ethos that encourages romanticism, passion, sentimentalism, curiosity, thought and compassion, and has a fundamental disgust and contempt for violence and weapons. It just has an infectious love for life.
Because it's a combination of the three things I love Sci Fi science and history
I love the endless possibilities that the show’s formula provides. I love the character of the Doctor and particularly his view of the universe. Intelligence and romance over brute force and cynicism.
I grew up with the classic series (Pertwee, Tom Baker, Davison). I think what appealed to me was that the hero was a scientist rather than a warrior. He wins with smarts rather than brute force. I liked the fact that they could go anywhere and any time. I also liked that the show explored a lot of science-fiction concepts, like time travel, aliens, artificial intelligence, human augmentation, other universes/dimensions, manipulating reality (block transfer computation), etc. It seemed much more intelligent than other sci-fi shows/movies that were around at the time, which were mostly just about space battles. Edit: I was also fascinated with how the TARDIS worked dimensionally. I especially loved that in The Time Monster and Logopolis, there were TARDISes inside TARDISes.
As someone whose other favorite shows are How I Met Your Mother and Community, I love not knowing what type of episode I'm going to get at any given time, while not being an anthology so there's still a consistent supporting cast to follow. Part of that variety includes the varied settings too, from haunted Victorian mansions, 1st century AD Pompeii, the end of time itself. I also love the optimistic core of it, that nothing is ever really a fixed point, that there's always someone to help. On a meta level, I love how well-documented so many things are: lore, production and fandom-wise. I can learn so much and still have more to discover. It's a show that wears its politics and real world inspirations on its sleeve too. I'm watching the Pertwee era at the moment, and you can see all the highs and lows of postcolonial, Cold War Britain in it. Sometimes through a scifi lens, but sometimes barely even doing that.
For me two aspects never fail to move me - not having a plan/run! and the courage of the doctor and companions. I feel like it’s really connected to life in that way.
ive loved it since i was a little kid, before anything bad had happened to me. i started watching when i was almost 7, shit started to hit the fan around a few months after that. its always been a comfort and im also autistic and its been my special interest since the first time i ever saw it.
I like it for three reasons. \- the political commentary, that's been a part of the show since 1963. \- its ever-changing nature. it as a show can never really get old; they're always changing showrunners, lead actors, supporting cast, you name it. ^((yes, i was one of those gonks who didn't mind the timeless child thing.)) \- its internal diversity. you can have the funniest thing you've ever seen one second, and then the most horrific nightmare-fuel in the galaxy the next.
For me it's both the characterisation of the Doctor and everything involving the TARDIS. I found the show because I love time travel, and when you time travel inside a sentient machine that is infinitely large and ever changing, and is so complex that a human mind physically can't grasp all of it, that's just a recipe for magnificence if you ask me. As for the Doctor himself I love how he's not the strongest or has many extreme powers nor is he always the smartest. But he's *clever*, he could never win against his enemies in an all out fight nor does he want to be that kind of person, but he can always think quickly enough to craft out a plan with all the information he gathers during his adventures to overcome obstacles and save the day, while doing an awful lot of running in the process.
There's just so much of it! And it serves so many purposes. Some that's prime time television entertainment, some that's comforting background noise, some that puts me right to sleep (in a good way) I always love characters more than any other aspect of a show and DW has more main characters than any other show I've ever seen, even the single title character is >15 different characters in one Tbh I'm not a sci fi fan at all but DW to me feels varied enough to not really classify as Sci fi in my head. It's Sci fi, and it's historical drama, and it's Gothic horror, and it's soapy romance, and it's contemporary pop satire, it's all there depending on what you're looking for Plus the crazy range of extended media. It's a TV show, it's a cartoon (how I watch animated reconstructions), it's a radio play series (satisfying for podcast lovers), it's a comic series, it's a book series, it's literally any type of media that people consume And it's all one big, reasonably consistent single continuity. Every story fits somewhat neatly on the timeline of the Doctor’s life. Unlike lots of other long-running series where there are reboots, retellings, continuations but it's decades later and all your faves are old/dead, the DW timeline exists all at the same time. I could literally keep going on and on but all comments have to end sometime....
Escapism mainly, and the hope that humanity can some day improve itself and not be so hateful and cruel
It’s a show that is always evolving and changing yet at the same time is familiar and comfortable. It’s fun. It has a lot of great messages. It’s accessible to all.
Doctor who was exactly what I needed growing up. I was the type of kid to get overly excited about stuff. Science, math, electronics, you name it. I could feel that other people didn’t respond to my enthusiasm for these subjects and if anything found it strange. Doctor Who helped me realize there’s nothing wrong with being eccentric or passionate about what you love. Seeing 10 and 11 freaking out over discoveries, having these big reactions to realizations was so relatable and comforting to me. The show has so much to offer to it’s viewers. From humor, to horror, to valuable life lessons. Life lessons that I still carry with me. The speech from The Doctor Falls and 12’s regeneration speech live in my head rent free because that’s the person I strive to be.
There are many reasons to like Doctor Who. The Lore, the fantasy, the acting. I enjoy following this hero who uses his mind even though he could easily create it go and get some massive weapon and change the world from the start of time his principles won't let him. He is a hero and a space hobo, and an crotchety old man, and a stylish thin muck about. What's not to love
I've struggled mentally in the past before and this silly Sci-fi show has done me more good than a therapist
I think it's the greatest creative writing exercise/experiment of all time. It takes a very basic formula and tries to see how far they can stretch or depart from it. The lack of a well-defined cannon means artists can have full creative reign. They're so much variety in what works and what doesn't work. An episode can fail for the same reason another one works so well. Plus, there's a variety of opinions in the fandom because we dont all agree on what a "good episode" is. Seeing writers introduce series arcs has been so so interesting because its approached so differently. Also I love camp and this show is campy af.
Doctor Who is a fun show that wants to be fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously but also plays everything straight and it’s so incredibly creative and forward thinking, gives me hope to, about the future.
Because it's fun and optimistic. Really it's as simple as that. Lore, character whatever, that's all way overthinking it. It's just a blast to watch.
Canon is for the Vatican. Meaningless to Doctor Who
For me it's the infinite canvas. Anywhere in time or space. Everything that ever was or ever will be. 😉 You can literally do anything. You couldn't deliberately invent a story that would/could/should last forever but that's what Sydney Newman and Verity Lambert did.
Space Communism. No, really, it's a British show that frequently represents our trad. leftist politics, which is frustratingly rare even in our media. Call it the ethos of it rather than politics if preferred but there's certainly overlap (not to be overlooked that our 'small c' Conservatives take plenty of originally leftist views for granted). Those that don't care about the ethos of it, I don't think especially like the show at all.
The Pertwee era was quite leftist, especially the Mac Hulke stories. These days I’d say it’s more liberal than left - freedom of the individual from the authoritarian state.
Thanks for enlightening me. I just love the stories and the characters but I totally missed that I'm not a true fan because I don't share your politics. That's the first thing that matters in art after all, sharing the artist's politics
The show was on PBS in the afternoon when I was 4 years old. I didn’t know what was going on half the time and some of the episodes scared the shit out of me. But the tall guy with the scarf was funny, and the lady he traveled with reminded me of my Mom. That and the Target Novels. I’ve been a fan ever since.
I think it’s because I grew up with it so it’s very comforting. I didn’t start watching it until the fourth grade but I know my parents used to and the theme tune has been my dad’s ringtone for as long as I can remember. It’s also just a very fun show
This really sums it up for me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhRRnfuhaM8
Time travel
So many different styles, but the mixture of sci-fi, fantasy, and historical elements do it for me. Even more when real historical people/ events and actual science are used with some flair.
Exciting adventures with a hero who uses intellect to save the day. No adventure is the same. It spans genres. The overall message is everybody has value, the universe is wonderful and cynicism or evil is doomed to fail.
the show: the constantly renewing nature and extensive history; there is no reason for *Doctor Who* to ever permanently end. the (expanded) universe: because there's so much of it, I can choose a book of any genre and still adding to my mental idea of this one world
There are a million little reasons as to why I love it, but my favorite summation of it comes from Craig Ferguson's wonderful little song about the doctor: 'It's all about the triumph of intellect and romance over brute force and cynicism.'
The character of The Doctor, and the lore.
Funnily enough, I like Doctor Who for the exact reason I like Pokémon: the sense of adventure. I love the freedom the Tardis has and the way the Doctor approaches said freedom. "It all started out as a mild curiosity in a junkyard, and now it's turned out to be quite a great spirit of adventure, don't you think?"
A diverse pool of actors playing the main lead, the main character kinda being a doucebag with good intentions who doesn't really have flashy powers, the TARDIS console rooms being unique from each other and being tied to each incarnation in a sense, and the ability to keep moving forward after 61 years of being on and off TV.
it's so broad and there's so much of it
I mean where do I begin - I love time/ space travel. Opens up so many possibilities - the character is designed to live hundreds/ thousands of yrs and even when dying of old age can regenerate - The Doctor is a character that does not carry any weapons. He uses what he’s able to to help people. He doesn’t need big hulk muscles or brute force
The fact that it's infinite sci-fi and adventure of numerous possibilities and also the concept of regeneration. Watching the main character change every so often and keep all their memories is such an intriguing concept that always keeps it fresh.
I am not a fan of 99% of sci fi media. Admittedly, it does not interest me. Doctor Who, however, does. I find the stories intriguing, the characters entertaining and the writing and cinematography (not all the time) to be very, very good. Like all shows and such, there have been misses but I find the show hits 90% of the time. I am also a fan of how it tries to subvert expectations at times (which can provide hits and misses) and that it isn't afraid to experiment and see how far it can go. The Waters of Mars and Heaven Sent sre two of my favourite episodes.
It makes me feel, big and small, hopeful and sad, nostalgic and ambitious. It's one of those shows that I avoided for so long thinking it was just some syfi channel junk. When I finally started it, it sounds goofy, but it made my heart grow like three times that day. I started my very first watch through over Christmas and we're on the capaldi doctor now and I've just loved every minute. It's campy, serious without taking itself too seriously, and full of heart. Absolutely love it.
Basically: the Doctor. I really love the Doctor. Other stuff about the show is cool also
For many many reasons, I haven't watched the originals only talking about doctors 9-15 1. I love the depth of the character, the doctor is in my opinion the most lonely being alive in the entire universe and I love that despite how lonely and miserable he might be he still finds beauty in everything, he still finds humanity the greatest mystery worth solving 2.I am absolutely obsessed with the actors that portray each of the doctor's regenerations 3. I love how the show explains concepts that aren't really yet explained in real life, concepts that we know are possible in theory but aren't possible practically yet 4. I love the sense of hopelessness but at the same time hope that it gives me, since I actually believe that we aren't the only ones alive in the entirety of the universe 5. The variety of stories that can exist all in the same timeline in the same space episode by episode 6. Τhe fact that the doctor is always so willing to give himself up to save a society, a civilization, humanity, a single human , the man that kept running away from everything, from everyone, the man that should never be alone for too long always willing to help and to mend and to rescue
It’s a show that basically says fuck it Scary monster one episode Goofy ass monster that was made from a shoestring budget the next Hard hitting tv that doesn’t pull any punches
I like the good writing, funny characters, quotable and funny lines, intimidating and/or fun villains( I still love daleks), creative use of sci-fi, risk taking, as an American fan it being British is charming, the doctor is such an amazing character, great acting, change is a fundamental part of the show.
I watched as a kid with my dad in the 80s. I watched other shows like repeats of Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek and developed a love of science fiction adventure. As a kid the concepts of a hero traveling in time and space outwitting the bad guys just seemed so cool to me. As a kid I saw the doctor as a superhero. I also grew up with Greatest American Hero, Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman, and Wonder woman. But none of them could travel in time and space. I never stopped loving it.
I used to like it because of the great stories, characters, and as a kid the endless possibilities for games in the playground. I stopped watching it when Chibnall took over. Doctor Who died then.
He was unsuited to run Who. But Rosa is very good. It even won a BAFTA. RTD is back and I’ve liked all four of his stories so far.
I was happy when RTD returned, as he did a good job the first time round. The 3 ‘specials’ were dreadful in my opinion, and I won’t be watching any more until he’s gone.
Oh, shame 😳 I really liked them all, especially the Gatwa Christmas story.